Box fastener



F. W. GOESSL|NG AND J. M. GARRETT.

BOX FASTENER. 4

APPLICATIGN FILED FEB. 4.192i- ,402 759 Patented Jan. 10, 1922..

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UNITED STATES PATENT orrica FREDERICK W. GOESSLING- AND JOHN M. GARRETT,OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS TO BEEHLER STEEL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OFST. LOUIS, MIS-v SOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI. I

BOX FASTENER.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 10, 1922.

Application filed February 4, 1921. Serial No; 442,457.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Fnnnnnrox WV. Gonss- LING and JOHN M. GARRETT,citizens of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, Stateof Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in BoxFasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to box fasteners, and is an improvement on thebox fastener shown in U. S. Patent No. 739,639, to C. W. Beehler, datedSeptember 22, 1903.

The box fastener shown in said Beehler patent comprises a catch securedto the inner side of the front wall of abox at such a pointthat itsupper end projects upwardly through a hole in the lid of the box whenthe lid is closed, a plate secured to the top side of the lid andprovided with a raised central portion, and aspring housed in the raisedcentral portion of the lid plate for co-operating with said catch andformed from a piece of spring wire that is doubled so as to form twodiverging portions, one of which is provided with an upturned end thatprojects upwardly through a hole in the central raised portion of thelid plate. The upturned end of the catch engaging spring is relied uponto hold said spring in operative position in the raised portion of thelid plate, and accordingly, unless the p when moving the spring todisengage itvfrom the catch, there is a tendency for the spring to twistV in such a way that the upturned end of the spring will pull out of thehole in the lid plate and thus render the fastener inoperative.

The main-object of our invention is to provide a box fastener of thesame general construction as the box fastener shown in said Beehlerpatent, but which is so constructed that there is no liability of thespring twisting in such a way as to withdraw the upturned end of samefrom the hole in the lid plate during theoperation of moving said springtoudisengage it from the catch on the front wall of the box.

Another object is to provide a box fastener ofthe general characterpreviously referred to in which the catch on the front wall of the boxis so constructed that the fastening devices which secure said catch inposition will not be sheared, bent or pulled out of the front wall ofthe box in the event the upper end of said catch is subjected to adownward blow or to pressure tending to I pull it away from the frontwall of the box. Other objects and desirable features of our inventionwill be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a top plan view of a portion of the lid of abox equipped with a box fastener constructed in accordance with ourinventlon.

Figure 2 1s a front elevational view of a portion of the front wall,with the lid of the box broken away so as to more clearly illustrate theconstruction of the catch engaging spring. I

Figure 3 is a view, looking at one end of the lid plate, showing thecatch onthe front wall of the 'box engaged by the spring on the lidplate; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the catch 1 that is adapted to besecured to the front wall of the box. w

Referring to the drawings which illus trate the preferred form of ourinvention,

A designates the lid of a box, B thefront wall of the box, C a catchthat is adapted to be secured to the inner side of said front wall, D aplate that is adapted to be secured to the outer side of the lid A, andE a spring on saidlid plate that co-operates with ahook 1 on the upperend of the catch C to retain the lid of the box in its closedposition.The lid plate D is similar to the lid plate of the boxrfastener shown inthe said Beehler patent and is provided with a raised central portion. 2which houses the spring E. Said spring is formed from a piece of springwirethat is bent to form.

two diverging portions, one of which is provided with an upturned end 3that projects upwardly through a hole in the raised central portion 2 ofthe lid plate, the end of the other diverging portion of said springbeing bent at has shown in Figure 1, so as to bear againstone end of theraised central portion 2 of the lid plate. y

In order to prevent the catch engaging spring E from twisting or cantingsufficiently to cause the upturned end 3 of same from pulling out of thecentral raised portion 2 of the lid plate during the operation of movingsaid spring to disengage it from the catch 0, we have provided thespring E with a portion F. that bears upon the top side of the raisedcentral portion 2 of the.

lid plate, and thus holdsvthe two diverging portions of the spring inparallel relation with the lid plate at all times. As shown in Figures 1and 2, the diverging portions of the catch engaging spring are connectedto a finger piece G which projects over the raised central portion 2 ofthe lid plate, and the portion F,previously referred to, is preferablyconnected to the finger piece G. 7 To release the spring E from thecatch C the user places one finger against the finger piece G of thespring and exerts pressure on same in a direction away from the frontwall of the box, thus causing the portion of the spring provided withthe bent terminal 4 to move out of engagement with the hook I on theupper end of the catch C. The depending portion F on the finger piec b as upon.

the top side of the raised central portion 2 of the lid plate,andconsequently, it is 1mpossible for the spring F to twist or turn insuch a manner as to pull the upturned end 3 of same out of the hole inthe raised central portion 2 of the lid plate. Accordingly,

such a box fastener is an improvement on the box fastener shown in theprior Beehler pat ent previously referred to, in that it is providedwith means for preventing the catch engaging spring of samefrom'becoming accident-allydisconnected from the lid plate during theoperation of actuating said spring to release it from the catch of thefastener. Moreover, as the spring E is provided with a raised fingerpiece G that can be grasped firmly bythe fingers of the user, the lid ofthe box can be raised by lifting said finger piece upwardly,therebyenabling thelid of the box to. be released and raised with one hand.

The catch C preferablyconsists of a sheet metal plate that'is secured tothe inner side of the front wall of the box by fastening devices 5, andin order to prevent said fastening de- Vices from being sheared, bent orpulled loose from the front wall of the upper end ofthe catch C'issubjected to a downward blow or to pressure in a direction tending topull it away from the front wall of the box, we have provided said catchwith laterally bent flanges or portions 6 that lap over the upper edgeofthe front wall of the box and which are secured to same by fasteningdevices 6 that are driven into the upper edge ofrsaid front wall. Theflanges '6 take up a downward strain or thrust on the ing to force saidcatch rearwardly away from the front Wall of the box.

the box in case Having thus described our invention, what we claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A ,box fastener consisting of a catch a catch engaging spring locatedbeneath the raised central portion of the lid plate and provided with aportion that pro ects upwardly through a hole in the ralsed centralportion of the lid plate, and a part on said sprin that bears 113011 theraised central portion of the lid plate and prevents said spring fromassuming such a position that the upwardly projecting portion of samewill accidentally pull out of vided for same in the lid plate.

2. A box fastener, comprising a catch adapted to be secured to one ofthe vertical walls of a box, a plate adapted to be se cured to the lidof the box, a housing on said lid plate, a spring arranged inside ofsaid housing for co-operating with said catch and having a portion thatprojects through a hole in said housing, and a part on said spring thatlaps over said housing and bears against same in such a manner that thespring cannot twist or turn in sucha way as to accidentally disengage itfrom the'housing during the operation of moving the spring to release itfrom the catch.

' 3. A box fastener, comprising a catch adapted to be secured to theinner side of one of the'upright walls of a box, a plate adapted to besecured to the lid of'the box the hole proand provided with a raisedcentral portion,

a spring housed in said raised central portion and formed from a pieceof spring wire that is bent to form two diverging portions that extendlengthwise of the lid plate, an upturned end on one portion of thespring that projects through a hole} in the raised portion of the'lidplate, and a finger piece at the opposite end of the spring providedwith a portion that slides'on the top of the raised central portion ofand thus holds said spring in substantially parallel relation with thelid plate.

4. A box fastener, comprising a catch that is adapted to be secured'tothe inner side of side the lid plate one of the upright walls of a box,a plate said catch andprovidedat one end with a portion that projectsthrough a hole in said housing, and a part at the opposite end of saidspring that projects. over saidhousing and bears upon the outside faceof the housing so as to prevent accidental disengagement of the springfrom the housing.

5. A box fastener, comprising a catch adapted to be secured to the innerside of one of the upright Walls of a box and provided with a part thatlaps over the upper edge of said Wall, a plate on the lid of the box'provided with a hole up through which said catch projects, a bent Wirecatch engaging spring interposed between said plate and the lid of thebox and connected to said plate by a bent portion on one end of saidspring that pro ects through a hole in" said FREDERICK W. GOESSLING.JOHN M. GARRETT.

